Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in New York to take part in UN Security Council meetings today and tomorrow on Ukraine and the Middle East.
Mr Lavrov is also expected to hold bi-lateral meetings with UN member states.
Today's Security Council meeting on Ukraine was requested by the Russian delegation to the United Nations, to discuss the flow of weapons from western countries into Ukraine.
Ahead of this meeting, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, flanked by the envoys of 47 member states, including Ireland, gave a statement on the "hypocrisy" of the Russian Federation for calling a meeting on defensive weapon inflows to Ukraine when Russia was importing arms from Iran and North Korea for its attack on Ukraine.
"Today’s meeting is another attempt by the Russian Federation to distract from this war of aggression against Ukraine and its intensified campaign of systematic airstrikes killing civilians and destroying critical infrastructure," he said.
Asked by RTÉ News if Ukraine could win the war, Ambassador Kylstsya replied that Ukraine would win, adding "not only Ukraine but all the democratic world".
The Deputy Ambassador of the United States to the UN, Robert Wood, said Russia was using the Security Council as a "stage for its blatant disinformation".
Asked by RTÉ News ahead of the meeting if the US would continue to support Ukraine financially, Ambassador Wood said the US would continue to support Ukraine "as best we can".
"You know the internal situation going on in US Congress," he told RTÉ News, "the administration is pushing hard because it’s important for us and it’s important for the world."
A spending bill to support Ukraine is being held up in Congress by Republican lawmakers, over demands for stricter immigration controls.
At the meeting, Mr Lavrov accused the US of sending "old ancient junk" to Ukraine while most of the military budget remains in the US to "update the weaponry".
He said the US administration was framing the war as a "profitable business venture" in a cynical attempt to get Congress to agree to the new aid package for Ukraine.
In his address to the Council, US Ambassador Wood told Council members: "No amount of conspiracy theories and baseless accusations erase the fact that Russia's violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity started this war.
"It is President Putin’s single-minded pursuit of the obliteration of Ukraine and subjugation of its people that is prolonging it."
The Chinese envoy to the UN, Ambassador Zhang Jun, focused on the economic impact of conflict around the world saying "the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have added snow to the icy cold global economy."
Poland and Ukraine pledge quick end to political friction
The leaders of Poland and Ukraine have pledged to tackle political disputes that have hampered their critical wartime alliance and boost defence cooperation as Russia's invasion of Ukraine grinds towards its third year.
In his first visit to neighbouring Ukraine as prime minister, Poland's Donald Tusk delivered a message of friendship to President Volodymyr Zelensky and said both sides "have reached a common understanding" over protests by Polish farmers and truckers.
"Poland will do everything to increase Ukraine's chances of victory in this war," Mr Tusk said at a joint media briefing.
Warsaw became a key ally for Kyiv as it sought Western financial and military support against Russia, but relations deteriorated in recent months when blockades at the border damaged Ukraine's economy.
The truckers agreed last week to suspend their protests, which had been aimed at revoking Ukrainian truckers' permit-free access to the European Union, until 1 March.
Warsaw and Kyiv have also been at odds over Ukrainian grain exports to Poland and the rest of the European Union.
"We understand the depth of the reasons that led to this kind of situation, but draw attention first and foremost to the depth of the threat that stands before our peoples," Mr Zelensky said, adding that he welcomed Warsaw's work on the issue.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, in a separate briefing with Mr Tusk, declared a "reset" in relations between the two governments and said they would hold regular meetings to strengthen cooperation.
He added that Kyiv would invest "maximum effort" to avoid harming Poland's economic interests, but that it also expected Warsaw to lift restrictions on Ukrainian farmers and producers.
"I am sure that we will find a solution that will benefit Polish farmers and producers and will be safe for the Ukrainian side," Mr Tusk said.
"An honest conversation between friends can work wonders."
Mr Zelensky and Mr Tusk also hailed plans between their countries for joint arms production, and Mr Zelensky said on X that they had discussed "a new form of cooperation aimed at larger-scale arms purchases for Ukrainian needs". He did not give details.
"We are going to invest in companies in Poland and Ukraine which will manufacture and function for the benefit of our defence capabilities in Poland, Ukraine, and the whole of Europe," Mr Tusk said.
"This will be a very profitable business for both sides."
Poland's new government is also exploring how to make more ammunition and military equipment as part of a new aid package for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said last week.
Mr Shmyhal said Kyiv had received nearly $3.5 billion in military support from Poland since the beginning of the war.
Mr Tusk's trip coincides with Ukraine's Unity Day, which celebrates the unification in 1919 of western and eastern Ukraine, which has faced numerous invasions over its long history.
Mr Zelensky marked the day by announcing plans to offer dual Ukrainian citizenship to ethnic Ukrainians and their descendants from all around the world, apart from Russia.
Additional reporting from Reuters
